Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
After having spent 3 hours trying to remove a completely screwed-up new Kaspersky Antivirus 2009 (v. 8.0) from my computer and finally succeeding (don't get me started) I'm looking for suggestions for a GOOD standalone antivirus program.
In the past few years I have tried McAfee, Computer Associates and Trend Micro -- had problems with them all.
Used Norton/Symantec for 3 years but finally got disgusted with how much of a resource hog it became.
My current one is Kaspersky Antivirus 7.0 but the subscription expires in 3 weeks and unlike Symantec, one cannot simply renew it -- they force you to upgrade to the most current program which is the KAV 2009 From Hell. After what I just went through with it, there is no way I'm going to ever put that on my computer again.
I have ZoneAlarm Pro as a standalone firewall and do not intend to change because it's the only one that lets me customize my settings for individual website and change settings for any website with just 2 clicks (a feature I use constantly). So any antivirus program has to be compatible with Zone Alarm Pro.
I'm highly suspicious of any of the free antivirus programs such as AVG (especially since I've read several articles recently reporting that many users who had AVG correctly installed and used are still being infected with viruses). I don't mind the yearly cost as long as I can be confident that the program is working correctly and isn't going to fight with either my operating system (XP Home) or my beloved trusty Zone Alarm Pro firewall.
Any suggestions? The only products any of the local retail stores here carry are McAfee and Symantec. Even Kaspersky was only available at Circuit City until they (CC) went out of business several months ago. So whatever I do get, I will need to order online.
I thought Kaspersky was the answer until this new "improved" current version came out. I'd hate to think my only alternative was to go back to Symantec...
I have ZoneAlarm Pro as a standalone firewall and do not intend to change because it's the only one that lets me customize my settings for individual website and change settings for any website with just 2 clicks (a feature I use constantly). So any antivirus program has to be compatible with Zone Alarm Pro.
Upgrade to ZA Security Suite, Everything you need, anti-virus, spyware blocker, email protection, identity lock, and it works. I am running both their Internet Security Suite on some machines, and Extreme Security on other PC's (I got a free 3 license version for beta testing it) and it just works.
With all the debate in a different thread about different spyware/adware, I recently downloaded some free scanners (Adaware, Spybot) , and scanned my system. Waste of time, nothing found so I uninstalled them, as ZA has clearly done it's job and the system was clean.
Last edited by Asheville Native; 04-11-2009 at 07:59 PM..
I tried ZA Security Suite in late 2007 during the time when I was shopping around for something to replace Norton/Symantec. Had huge problems with it freezing up the computer on almost every web page I visited (yes I had made sure to completely remove all traces of Norton, and did a clean uninstall/reinstall of ZA Security Suite FOUR times and the problem persisted) so I'm not about to waste money on ZA Security again.
Kaspersky 2009 = Kaspersky 8.0 . Same program (which is what drove me nucking futs for three hours yesterday because it would continually launch/shut it self down within 15 seconds/generate a Failed to Launch error message/then relaunch/shut it self down again/generate message/ etc etc etc and would not allow the Uninstall or Repair utility to operate.
It looks as though nod32 might be my only remaining option. Unfortunately I doubt that the one remaining software retailer in our area (Best Buy) carries it, though I'll check today or tomorrow. We used to have three software retailers hereabouts: CompUSA, Circuit City, and Best Buy -- but the first two are now out of business.
I see there are two versions of nod32 --- V. 3 and the V. 4 on their website. What version are most people here using and what are the major differences if any?
Ya know, with all these problems with different AV applications have you considered that maybe they are not the problem? With all the issues you've had, plus installing/ uninstalling of AV software (especially norton) your OS may be slightly less than stable, have you considered a format & reload?
Ya know, with all these problems with different AV applications have you considered that maybe they are not the problem? With all the issues you've had, plus installing/ uninstalling of AV software (especially norton) your OS may be slightly less than stable, have you considered a format & reload?
That has crossed my mind and in fact last year I decided to pick up a new in box copy of XP just in case one day out of the blue my OS should suddenly die a spectacular death. But I have to say that I've never (cross fingers/knock wood/propitiate the cybergods!) had a problem with any other types of programs (just the security utilities) and to be honest my old (circa 2002-ish) plain vanilla no-frills Norton Antivirus worked fine; the only reason I couldn't keep using it was that Symantec decided to stop supporting that version with any updates/renewals. And my current-on-machine Kaspersky 2007 (v. 7) has worked perfectly -- but yet again the manufacturer forces an upgrade when the update subscription expires. Totally unfair IMO; if a user is happy with their version from one, two, or three years ago why force them to abandon it?
I just ordered nod32 from an Amazon partner (they don't sell it direct, and I'm old-school in that I much prefer buying any software in a physical-disk package rather than a download). They had 3.2 for $30 and also the new 4.0 version for a higher price but I noticed a difference in the listed manufacturer between the two versions. The 3.2 version was listed as being an ESET product but the 4.0 version is shown as being a 'Navarre' product. Since most people here seem to be recommending the actual ESET product I'd rather buy that than take a flyer on a new manufacturer. Odd because version 4 is shown on the ESET website but they only offer it as a download, not a boxed version.
Last edited by totallyfrazzled; 04-12-2009 at 02:00 PM..
Avast Antivirus is a good program, I've had it for over a year on my home PC and it hasn't let any virus through. It updates the program and the virus definitions automatically so once it's installed you don't have to do anything else. The home version is free too which is nice.
Avast and Avg free are the best antivirus programs you can download them from download.com or [url]http://www.trustdownload.com[/url]
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Should have mentioned also...
